(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission joint of the type comprising a socket, connected to a first shaft, and inside which is formed at least one pair of rolling tracks. A rolling element connected to a second shaft is received in the rolling tracks, and a protective closing cover of a generally cylindrical form is mounted on the outer wall of the socket, with a gasket interposed in the vicinity of the end of the socket adjacent the first shaft. The other end of the socket keeps a free annular edge of a sealing bellows gripped between the inner cylindrical wall of the cover and the opposite socket portion.
(2) State of the Prior Art
A transmission joint of the sliding tripod type conforming to this definition is described and illustrated in the document FR-A-2,538,476.
In this embodiment of a transmission joint, a cylindrical protective cover is mounted on an outer surface of a socket, the latter being machined to the same diameter over its entire axial length. A groove is formed at an end of the socket facing a first shaft, in order to receive a gasket which is installed before the operation of mounting the cover, the latter subsequently being crimped at its two ends, on the one hand directly on to the outer surface of the socket and on the other hand at the rear of the heel of the sealing bellows forming its free annular edge.
This type of mounting of the closing cover is especially costly in that it requires a complete facing of the outer cylindrical surface of the body of the socket. It also usually makes it necessary to machine the free ends of the journals of the tripod on which the rollers are mounted, so that the rough surfaces of these do not come into contact with the inner surface of the cover when the joint is in operation.